| “ | …so help me God. | „ |
| ~ Bob Ewell's first quote in the novel. |
| “ | Too proud to fight, you n*****-lovin' bastard? | „ |
| ~ Bob trash talking Atticus. |
Robert E. Lee "Bob" Ewell, commonly referred to as Bob Ewell, is the main antagonist of the 1960 Harper Lee novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and its 1962 film adaptation of the same name. He is the alcoholic and abusive father of Mayella Ewell, and is extremely vulgar to black people. He is also the uncaring and vile leader of the Ewell clan. By taking Tom Robinson to court and sentencing him to death, he aspires to be viewed as heroic in the eyes of Maycomb County.
He was portrayed by the late James Anderson in the film adaptation.
Biography[]
Bob Ewell is the derogatory and abusive father of eight children, including Mayella and Burris Ewell. His family is extremely impoverished, living in a cramped, filthy, and disorganized house. He supplies food to his family by illegally hunting, and is so poor he cannot afford basic services like education or healthcare for his family.
Sometime before the events of the novel, Ewell had found out that his daughter Mayella was making out with a black man named Tom Robinson. Earlier, Tom had empathized with the Ewells and helped them with their daily chores. Mayella, who had no one who truly loved her, felt deep affection for Tom and forcibly made love with him. However, when Bob found out about this, he scared Tom away and proceeded to physically abuse (and possibly rape) Mayella.
At the beginning of the novel, Bob takes Tom to court for supposedly beating and raping her daughter. Bob seems aware of the racially biased justice system of Maycomb County, and takes advantage of it, knowing that the chance that Tom is found not guilty is slim to none. Bob is sentencing Tom to death in the hopes that he would be respected and honoured by the people of Maycomb.
During the trial, Tom's lawyer, Atticus Finch points out that the injuries that Mayella sustained were inconsistent with the fact that Tom's left arm had been essentially disabled, as her injuries indicated that her abuser was left-handed. It is later revealed that Bob was left-handed (by having him write his name), and that he was the one who truly assaulted Mayella. The all-white jury however still finds Tom guilty in spite of Atticus' astute observations, and Tom is sent to prison.
Bob relishes in and boasts about his victory at the trial (especially after finding out Tom had been shot and killed in prison while attempting to escape), but the other residents of Maycomb County, realizing that Bob had been lying and exploiting the justice system, show scorn and derision towards him. Bob becomes extremely infuriated and incandescent for still not garnering any respect, and becomes increasingly violent, spitting in Atticus' face, attempted breaking and entering in the judge's house, and intimidating Tom's widow Helen.
Eventually, his violence culminates in his ultimate revenge for Atticus, and on Halloween night, he attempts to kill Atticus' two children, Scout and Jem, using a kitchen knife. However, he is blocked by the enigmatic Arthur "Boo" Radley, and the two engage in a struggle. Eventually, Boo manages to fatally wound Bob using Bob's kitchen knife. When the Maycomb County Sheriff, Heck Tate, finds out about the fight, he reports that Bob accidentally killed himself by "falling on his own knife", in order to protect Boo's identity.
What Makes Him Pathetic?[]
- He takes poor care of his family by neglecting and abusing his eight children. It gets so bad that the town sheriff allows him to hunt illegally to prevent his children from starving to their deaths.
- It is heavily implied he raped his own daughter Mayella so that he could pin the blame on Tom Robinson.
- He manipulates Tom's trial, using the prejudiced justice system in Maycomb County, partly because he was racist and partly so that Maycomb County would shower him with praise, to have Tom sentenced to death. When Tom is shot and killed in an escape attempt, he gloats that it's "one down and about two more to go."
- After being humiliated and disrespected in court (and realizing that Maycomb still does not respect him despite having Tom Robinson wrongfully executed) he attempts to murder Atticus Finch's two children, Scout and Jem, out of pure vengeance, even though the jury declared Tom Robinson guilty.
- Though his cowardice is not extremely explicit, there is enough evidence to at least heavily insinuate he is one:
- He never directly confronts Tom, and has to rely on false rape accusations to get "revenge" against him.
- After Atticus counters his arguments, Bob does not try to fight or kill him directly (likely he was scared by the fact that the latter had defeated his claims and proved himself to be a worthy threat), and instead goes after his children, knowing they are completely defenseless.
What Makes Him a Pinhead?[]
- He does not try to cover up the blatant lies in his testimony. When he beat up his daughter, he never considered the injuries on her would indicate a left-handed assailant, even though Tom's left arm was disabled. He does not even bother trying to cover up this hole in his argument, as shown when he clearly demonstrates that he is left-handed after being asked to write his name.
- Granted, it is possible that he purposely did not bother trying to create a fool-proof argument because he knew the prejudiced jury would find Tom guilty regardless. Nevertheless, even without this advantage it is likely he still would not have been able to cover up the transparent lies in his arguments.
- In general he seems to prioritize committing evil over even basic self-preservation. This is clearly demonstrated by his actions after the trial, such as when he acts belligerently around everyone just because he still was not being viewed as a town hero, when he breaks into the judge's house out of petty revenge, and when he tries to kill Atticus' children but karmically ends up losing his life when Boo Radley comes to protect them.